Wondered

Pwiii! Pwiiw!!

Pwii!

It was a normal morning of winter in the kingdom just like any other. Birds chirped happily, small animals who were awake searched for food, and most of the working people were already awake.

a great part of them would do more normal jobs while others soon started their trainining.

It didn't matter if it their objective was to be a baker, a court official, a priest or even a general, the citizens were working hard to live well.

And in the southeast part of the capital it wasn't any different or it should be...

...

..

.

'... Where I.. am?'

Pwii!

Pwitt!

'Strange...'

'Shouldn't I... be dead?'

Pwii!

Pwii!!

'What could this be? A dream? I... don't feel any pain on my body...'

'...Just this strange feeling on my throat...'

Pwiit!!

Pwi!!

'I... I never thought there would be any of them on hell...'

'These irritating birds...'

While a flock of snowbirds chirped on the sky just like a choir, the man wondered why his surroundings seemed so familiar yet so unknown...

'Hmm...'

'It never crossed my mind that hell would be so chilly, it's nothing like the priests said..'

'Heh, and you said I would be burning in hell priest Mongover...'

Pwi!!

'But if i'm in hell where is Baldaxias?'

'Everything here is so qu- WAIT IS THA-'

A sword!? He had no time to think, with his peripheral vision he could see a blade coming to his direction.

SSSHRRKIRR!!!

Pulling a sword that was sheated on his waist, he barely deflected the unknown blade.

'Did I always have this sw-'

TIINNWW!!

The sound of metal clashing resounded once more when the two swords met again.

TINW!

TIINW!!

THROONGG!

He hadn't an idea about what was happening, but even so he brandished his weapon again and again.

TAANWW!!

TLLAWN!

"Huff..."

"Huff... huff..."

'That's strange, I hit him some times and he did the same...'

'And yet...'

"Huff... huff..."

TAIINW!!

'None of us are bleeding much... could it be that our weapons aren't that sharpened?'

"Haaah... Huff..."

"Haah.."

'By the love of god, why I'm already so tired?'

Frustated as he was, his thoughts wandered for a brief moment. Seeing this opening, his opponent took advantage from it launching a strong frontal slash.

SKKRRRRKR!!!

KRRRRKRR!!

Two blades were stuck together, constantly struggling to overthrow the other, to find a opportunity to slash their oponent...

KRRKRAKKK!

"Hah... Hah.. Hah."

He was out of breath, the metal clanked incessantly and his arms were giving up, but he knew better than most that in the moment he released his grasp he would die.

It was quite funny, he, the man who minutes ago accepted his death, struggled to live...

"Kh! Wha!"

He gasped as soon he got to see the appearence of his opponent clearly. The man who was on the other side. Was fairly young... he had a well kept, short dark greyed hair, sapphire like blue eyes and a small trimmed beard.

"Haah... haha! What's wrong Baaartolomeoo~ Haah-having problems~?"

His enemy mocked him with an irritating voice, it was one way of mocking him that he knew too well...

'It couldn't be...'

"AH!"

With his thoughts in disarray he was barely left standing and almost fell down.

'No... it can't be...'

'He wouldn't be here... He probably would be at a deeper layer in he-'

KRRR!!!

Bartolomeo knew it wasn't time to think about such trivial things, so he did the only thing he could...

PAK!!!

"Ugh!"

Receiving a beautiful kick on the gut, his opponent grunted in pain and fell down backwards.

'Now!'

TEEEK!

Using this golden opportunity he tried to stab the man with all of his might, but his opponent was way faster and rolled to the right, got onto his knees, jumped backwards and got back in the right stance.

After doing a chain of seemingly acrobatic movements, the man had made quite distance from him.

"Haaah.. Hahh. Haaah.. Haah."

'I have some battle experience, and he seems younger than me... so... why he's so skilled?'

'This.. This must be a trap made by an evil being like Baldaxias!! Yeah... for sure...'

"Hah. Hahh.. Haah."

'Damn, I don't remember sweating like this in age- WHAT!'

In the middle of cleaning his sweat, he couldn't believe in what he was seeing, it just didn't make sense, nothing seemed to do.

'Since when my hand and fingers are so chubb- wait! It can't be, all my fingers are here!!'

'WHAT THE F-'

"Ah!"

"Ugh!"

And just like that, gasping dumbly with his mouth agape, Bartolomeo got stabbed in the chest.

...

..

.

"And so the winner of this duel is Katrine!!"

A full bearded middle-aged man, that had an almost all whitened hair, declared cheerfully.

"Damn! that fight was incredible!"

A young soldier said amazed.

"Yes, it was really a unbelievable sight to see!!"

The fellow soldier at his side answered feeling the same.

"Daamn, I never knew general Bartolomeo could fight like this!"

"I always thought he was just talk, but now I know I was wrong..."

A brown haired soldier that still seemed to be on his teens said with a bright smile.

"Yeah that's for sure"

His senior, a slightly older purple haired man answered curtly with an amused expression on his face.

"Ugh..."

Still on the ground, ignoring the fact he didn't realize that there was always a crowd surrounding them, Bartolomeo kept looking at his enemy, after all he still couldn't believe in it.

...He also didn't want to...

The name of that man was Katrine di Siracusa, no one other than his older brother...

The only reason he lived in that fateful day...

And also... the only reason he was Executed...